Unfinished Business
by Honeyfish
Summary: Ichigo and Rukia encounter a Hollow in need of help. Seems he knows something about the mysterious Kira murders, and he identifies himself as L... Bleach/DN crossover. Spoilers for both. On hiatus indefinitely.
1. Cake

_Fire Nerbil here, thanking you for choosing to read her first Bleach fanfic, which is also her first Death Note fanfic since it's a crossover._

_I'm writing this intro here as I work on chapter 11, so at the moment the later chapters have a more solid timeframe than the early ones here. This story occurs around the early mid-Arrancar arc in Bleach and around the time Mello kidnaps Raito's sister in Death Note. At the time I wrote the first four chapters I had no idea what the timeframe would be, so there may be some inconsistancies. But it shouldn't take away from your enjoyment of the story at all _

_I own neither Bleach nor Death Note._

**Ch. 1 Cake**

6:15 pm, Naruki City

Frightened civilians dove out of the way as a small delivery van with the familiar orange and pink Dunkin' Doughnuts logo on its door swerved onto the sidewalk and crashed back down onto the pavement. The driver was frantic. How would he explain this to his boss? The side of the van had been gouged with three long, jagged tears. It would be terribly expensive to fix. Of course they would ask how it happened, and he couldn't' very well say that the vehicle was attacked by an invisible monster. Which was currently in hot pursuit.

A red light loomed into view. The street was backed up by a long row of cars. There was nowhere to turn. The diver looked around frantically, decided he preferred to keep his life over his job, and jumped out the door just as the unseen monster caught up. The force of its impact flipped the van onto its side.

The two equally unseen Death Gods, who had been following the monster, arrived just in time to see it rip the entire side off the vehicle and look inside. The monster lifted its head and howled in disappointment. The van had been returning from a delivery. It was empty.

"There it is. A low-class Hollow."

"This shouldn't take too long, then."

The Hollow abandoned the van and looked over its shoulder at the Death Gods, not appearing too shocked that it had been followed. It was a small Hollow, not much larger than the deliver van it had just attacked. Its lanky body was dark blue with a lighter underside. The signature mask, that all Hollows wore, was simplistic. The only distinct markings it bore were two dark comma shapes around the eyes, making it look as if it hadn't slept in days. But its most distinct feature was a ridge of long, dark, spiky hair that ran from its head to the base of its long tail.

"Oi! Hollow!" One of the Death Gods called. He was a tall young man with bright orange hair. The Hollow tilted its head and growled. Then it charged, its large black claws clattering on the asphalt.

"Here it comes! Wait until its right in front of you." Said the second Death God. She was a short, slender girl with black hair. She raised her Zanpaktou to a defense position, waiting for the other to strike. The male Death God placed his hand on the grip of his own long, cleaver-like sword, prepared to strike as soon as the Hollow was close enough. 'Doesn't she know I've done this before?' He thought to himself as the Hollow drew closer. But instead of attacking, the monster launched itself right over their heads and continued running down the street.

"It must have another target. After it!" The female Death God said to her partner, who nodded. They took off after the Hollow. Hollows usually went after humans with high spiritual energy. It was what they fed on.

The little Hollow kept to the streets, nimbly dodging traffic. Finally it found what it had been looking for. Another delivery truck, a tractor trailer en route to various bakeries. Was the Hollow going after the driver?

Apparently not.

As soon as it was close enough, the monster leapt on top of the truck, causing the diver to swerve out of control and jackknife. The truck turned off the road came to rest in front of a warehouse. The stunned driver opened the door and fell out. The airbag had deployed, but he appeared unhurt. He got shakily to his feet and started at his truck in horror. To him it looked as if some unnatural force was tearing huge holes in the side of the trailer. He ran, yelling for help.

"He'll be back soon." Said the male Death God when the pair arrived at the scene. "Let's take care of the Hollow."

Said Hollow had successfully torn open the side of the truck. It was making a soft purring sound as it rummaged around in the trailer. Realizing the existence of another reiatsu, it turned to see where it was coming from. The lower half of its mask and its claws were smeared with frosting. It licked its chin with its long black tongue and growled softly.

"Hey, Rukia." The taller Death God asked his partner quietly. "Why is the Hollow eating cake? You're the senior Death God here…"

"I… don't know." The other Death God, Rukia, answered. "I've never heard of them eating anything but reiatsu before…"

The Hollow had gone back to munching on the contents of the trailer. It was still making the soft purring/growling sound, and it had shifted position so that it was sitting with its knees drawn up in front of its chest.

"Well, regardless of its tastes, we've got to slay it." Rukia's partner said.

"Slay?" The Hollow turned its head and looked at the Death gods with one glowing yellow eye. It spoke calmly. "Now why would you do that to me?"

"Why not?" The tall, orange-haired Death God asked. "You'll get to go to Soul Society. Heaven. Eternal peace and all that crap."

"Sounds nice, but I couldn't be a peace in a place like that." The Hollow said. "I still have something very important to do. Besides, I haven't hurt anyone. I hardly think I deserve to die." It reached back into the truck and took out another cake. It popped it into its toothy mouth, box and all, and chewed pensively.

"So why are you sitting here eating, and not out doing it?" Rukia asked the Hollow. She had her Zanpakou out, still ready to defend. "And what do you mean you haven't hurt anybody? Someone could've been injured in those car crashed you caused!"

"But no one was hurt. It they had been, I'm sure I would have noticed." Answered the Hollow. "As for the cake… sweet things help me think. It's kind of a habit I had in life, and I'm hoping it'll still imply now that I'm a ghost. Thinking is what I need to do at the moment. So since I'm not hurting anyone, will you not kill me? The last thing I need right now it some sort of ghost exterminator agency after me."

"Ghost exterminators?" Rukia looked puzzled. "You mean like that Kanonji guy? We're not with him."

"Besides, you're not a ghost. You're a Hollow!" Her partner exclaimed.

"Oh, really? Because of the hole?" The Hollow fingered the hole in its chest.

The male Death God rested his sword on his shoulder and looked distastefully at the Hollow. "I don't trust it." He announced. "It makes me uncomfortable to just stand here with a Hollow sitting in plain view."

"Ichigo!" Rukia scolded him. "It's our job to help souls pass peacefully to Soul Society, and this Hollow is no exception!" She turned to the Hollow, which had pulled a bunch of boxes out of the truck and was stacking them on top of each other, deep in thought again. "What is your unfinished business in this world?" She asked it.

The Hollow looked up, its glowing eyes unreadable. "Surely you've heard of the mysterious heart attacks that have befallen most of the criminal population. And of Kira, the psychic killer, and the enigmatic man who is working against him. Well… what I know will end it all." Its tail twitched in anticipation. "I know who Kira is, because I was right next to him when he killed me."

"The Gates of Hell have been rather active recently…" Rukia confirmed. "Alright. We'll trust you for now. But we'll need you to come with us, so we can make sure you don't cause any more trouble. No more chasing trucks."

Police sirens wailed in the distance.

"C'mon, let's get going." Ichigo said. "It wouldn't do any good to stick around here. Rukia, Hollow-san." He sheathed his blade in its holster on his back.

"No…" The Hollow said. "I want you to use the name I used as a human. Call me… L."


	2. Homeward

_Reviews make me a happy Nerbil :D I'm glad to get positive feedback, since I got no response whatsoever when I posted this on a different site. Here be ch 2. Plz note that I do not own any of theses chacters... possibly the only thing I own is L's Hollow design._

**Ch. 2. Homeward**

7:45, Karakura Town

"I was frustrated and angry. Angry at myself and angry at Kira. Disappointed, too, that I couldn't prove who he was sooner. All that was what caused my transformation." The Hollow, that had identified itself as L, said. "If what you say about Hollows is true, that is. Inner turmoil speeding up the degrading of the Chain of Fate. If you both are willing to help me, maybe I won't have died in vain."

The streets of Karakura town were quiet and empty. Even if someone were out, the conversation of two teenagers on an evening walk wouldn't be anything suspicious.

"Don't get ahead of yourself." Rukia told L. "We still have to make sure Soul Society doesn't send anyone else after you. Some of the other Death Gods are really overeager-"

"Death Gods?" L interrupted, quickening his pace until he was right next to Rukia. "You're both Death Gods? Why didn't you say so? Do either of you have a Death Note with you?"

"You didn't know?" Ichigo raised an eyebrow at the Hollow. "Why else would we be able to see you? And I've never heard of a Death Note."

"Well… I knew a Death God once. It was quite different in appearance than either of you..." L said, drifting back into his original position behind the two humans. He was quiet for a moment, his masked face downturned, framed by his spiky mane. "I apologize." He said. "I should not get my hopes up like that. Hope will not help me." He fell silent again. Nobody said a word until Rukia noticed L was examining her rather closely.

"Is there something on my shirt?" She asked him, not quite comfortable with a Hollow breathing down her neck.

"No." L replied. "It is just that the Death God I knew looked and acted nothing like either of you. It did not fight or even carry a weapon like your katanas. Are there different kinds of Shinigami?"

"Not that I know of. Most of the Death Gods I know are normal-looking humans." In whatever way 'normal' applies to some of the Shingami back home in Soul Society, Rukia thought.

"Perhaps…" L mused, "There are two types of Shinigami, each unaware of the other's existence?"

"It's a possibility, of course." Rukia agreed. "But it seems likely that we would have already discovered the existence of another Death God world."

Ichigo broke out of his silent reverie. "Hey, where exactly are we headed?"

"Your house. Where else?" Rukia answered.

"Why mine? Can't we take him to Sandal-Hat's shop?" Ichigo demanded.

"Maybe later. For now, your house. It's closer." Rukia said.

"Does your house have an internet connection?" L asked Ichigo. "Because I'd like to see what Kira has been doing while I was… indisposed."

"Yeah, yeah. Just don't let my dad or sisters run into you." Ichigo scowled as the Kurosaki clinic came into view. The lights were on in the kitchen, but the rest of the house was quiet. Until…

"YOU'RE LAAAAAATE!" Yelled Isshin Kurosaki as he dove off the roof, aiming for his son. Ichigo deftly stepped out of the way. "Dad, not tonight." He said as his father got up from the shattered pavement and aimed a kick at Ichigo's head.

"I said-" Ichigo stopped his father's kick with his forearm. "NOT." He retaliated with a kick of his own. "TONIGHT." Isshin was flung into the neighbor's yard. He laughed. "That was a good counter! But let's see if you can do so well next time, when I won't give you any warning!"

"Yeah, whatever Dad." Ichigo said dismissively. "I'm going to bed."

"You and your girlfriend have a good night!" Isshin called.

"She's not my girlfriend!" Ichigo yelled back, the same time that Rukia yelled, "I'm not his girlfriend!" Both of them looked at eachother. L growled quietly in amusement. "Your father does such things often?"

"Every change he gets," replied Ichigo, opening the front door to the clinic. "L-san, we can talk by my bedroom window at the side of the house." He stepped inside and was greeted by his little sister Yuzu throwing herself at him.

"Ichi-nii-san!" She squealed. "Why are you so late? I was worried! Oh, hi Rukia-san!"

Rukia closed the door behind her. "My parents are out of town and Kurosaki-san here offered to let me stay the night, so of course I couldn't refuse." She said, smiling brightly.

"Great!" Yuzu exclaimed. "I'll bring you both some dinner later."

"Keep it down!" Karin, Ichigo's other sister called. "I'm trying to watch TV!"

"Karin! Show a little more respect to our guests!" Yuzu scolded her sister. Rukia was about to say something else, but Ichigo stopped her. "Let them go." He said. "We've got our own issues to deal with."

Once out of earshot of his sisters, Ichigo suggested, "What if the Hollow is lying? Sometimes they're really smart."

"I doubt it…" Rukia said, but she was thinking back to a Hollow they had fought before, once that had been a serial killer in life and had told them so. If Hollows could be smart enough to remember who they were, could they be smart enough to claim they were someone else?

Ichigo hurried to his bedroom door. Just as he touched the doorknob, a shrill scream of horror came from the other side.


	3. Defective

_In response to comments I have received:_

_I'm so glad people like my story! It'd be neat to see someone else's interpretation of a Hollow L. I sketch him all the time on my biology notes but I haven't scanned any of my pictures yet…_

_This actually takes place several years after L's death, since it takes a while for a soul, even a frustrated one, to turn into a Hollow. I really don't know when it takes place in the Bleach saga…_

_Also, does anybody know where I can find the Bleach manga chapter sketches about Hanatarou's zanpakto? I've got a fic about it in the works, and though I know it looks like a scalpel it'd be nice to have a visual aid. Thanks so much!_

_-Nir_

**Ch 3. Defective**

Kurosaki Household, 7:58 pm

"Heeeeeelp!" Kon's anguished cry game from Ichigo's room. "A Hollow! Heeeeeelp!" The door opened and Ichigo stepped inside, followed by Rukia.

"Nii-san! Thank God you're here!" Kon cried. He was pressed against the wall opposite the window. "Kill the Hollow! Quick!"

"Idiot." Ichigo picked Kon up and held him at arm's length. "Stop yelling! If the Hollow was going to attack, don't you think it would've done something already?" He held Kon so that the stuffed animal was facing the window. "Is the Hollow attacking, moron?"

"Er… no…" Kon stammered.

L was sitting outside Ichigo's window, his elbows resting on his knees in an oddly human position. But he had been a human once, after all. An enigmatic human who had never shown his face in public, but still a human. The Hollow scratched his head with one of his clawed toes. "Hello." He said. Kon flinched.

"So… it doesn't want to eat me?" The ModSoul was puzzled. "Is it defective or something?"

"I am not 'defective.'" L said, sounding a bit offended. "I just find I have more self-control than an ordinary Hollow, according to what Ichigo and Rukia have told me. Perhaps it stems from my personality. I am not entirely sure."

Rukia had gotten out her combination cell phone and Hollow tracker and was dialing. "I'm going to contact Soul Society so they don't send anyone else after L. If he is who he says he is, we don't want him slain. Oh, I have an idea…" She picked up her sketch pad from Ichigo's desk and started drawing on it.

"Eh? Rukia, what are you doing?" Ichigo asked her, looking over her shoulder at her drawing.

"I'm making a visual aid, so that the Death Gods at Seireitei will be able to identify our Hollow." She replied.

"I really don't think that will help." Ichigo told her, raising an eyebrow at her artwork. "That looks nothing like a Hollow."

Rukia scowled at him. "Fine then." She said. "I'll just send a description." She picked up her communicator, mumbling to herself about how nobody appreciated artists these days.

It was a warm night, and Ichigo's window was open, barred only by a screen. On his second night of substitute Death God duty, a Hollow who had turned out to be his friend Inoue's brother had crashed through it. Now L's glowing eyes filtered through the screen, highlighted by the dark markings around them. Ichigo picked up his Dad's laptop, which he had snatched from the kitchen table and sat on his bed, facing the Hollow. He had found that Hollows sometimes bore resemblance to their original human forms. L must have been a pretty freaky-looking guy, if that was the case with this Hollow.

"So, what was it you wanted me to look up for you?" Ichigo asked L, frowning at the computer. The stupid thing was so temperamental, there was no guarantee it would work at all.

"I would like to find out what Kira has done in my absence. He has many fansites; there should be a listing of names on at least one of them." L replied. As Ichigo typed, L looked over his own shoulder. "You are sure your father and sisters cannot see me?"

"Pretty sure, yeah." Ichigo replied absently.

Meanwhile, Yuzu had sent Karin to take out the trash. As the girl hauled the bags to the curb, she spotted something unusual. There was something sitting outside her brother's window. She couldn't entirely make it out, but there was definitely something there. It reminded her of that time she had been attacked by a monster in the park. It had appeared as a sort of swirling disturbance in the air until it finally revealed itself to be a hulking beast with a mask-like face. Now there was another one, daring to attack them in the sanctity of their home. Rather than run for help, Karin yelled, "Hey! Monster! Stay away from my brother!" as she ran toward it.

L turned to see a young girl sprinting toward him, her cleats slapping on the pavement. "Take this!" She yelled, and jumped, landing on L's tail with an audible CRACK. The Hollow's mane stood up like a cat's, but he didn't react otherwise.

'Wow, that must have been painful…' Ichigo thought, pushing the screen up from his window and peering out.

"That… hurt." L said, clearly trying to keep from screeching in pain. He flicked his tail out from under Karin's feet, and she fell on her backside.

"Go away, Monster!" Karin demanded, getting up. "Or I'll do more than just step on your tail!"

"Karin? What are you…" Yuzu had just come around the side of the house to see what all the yelling was about. She screamed when she saw the Hollow.

"Yuzu! Karin! Uh…" Ichigo hesitated. "Yeah, that's right monster! Go away! Leave us alone! We've had enough of you attacking us!"

"But, Ichigo…" L began. Ichigo interrupted him. "Just play along! We'll have to do this somewhere else." He whispered. L nodded slightly, understanding.

"Fine, human! You have won, for now." He snarled. "But I will return, with greater forces!" With an angry, ear-splitting screech, he bounded into the street and out of sight.

"Yeah!" Yuzu cheered and hugged her sister. "He won't bother us again! Right, nii-san?" She looked to Ichigo. "Sure, Yuzu." He replied. Rukia appeared next to him.

"Hey, where did-" She stared to ask, but Ichigo pushed her back inside. "Not now!" He hissed. "Karin, Yuzu, get back in the house. It's not safe to be out if there are creatures like that one out."

"I can take them!" Karin declared, but Yuzu grabbed her arm and pulled her back into the house. Once Ichigo's sisters were out of sight, Rukia spoke up. "Well, what do you plan to do now? We can't keep L here now that your sisters have seen him."

Ichigo thought for a moment, his eyes locked on the window in case L came back. "What do you think the chances are that Sandal-Hat will look after him for us?"


	4. Hunger

_Well, this certainly too way to long to get done. I guess it was because I didn't have very many ideas for this chapter when I finished typing the first 3. But that shouldn't' be a problem for the next few because I have them already written down, and I at least have ideas for what will happen in the ones after that. Raito will play a bigger part than I originally intended him to, and I now realize that I will have to include a lot more Bleach characters as well. _

_Do you think I should submit this in the Death Note section as well? It's mostly Bleach, but there will be a few chapters that are more Death Note._

**Ch. 4. Hunger**

Karakura Town, 8: 31 pm

L listlessly plodded down a street 3 blocks from Ichigo's house. He was hungry. The food he had eaten before hadn't sated him at all. Apparently Hollows could only gain nourishment from spirit power. But the idea of devouring a human's soul and turning them into a Hollow did not appeal to him. Besides, it seemed there was nobody out, dead or otherwise.

The sound of footsteps caught his attention. He didn't bother looking, since he had been told most normal humans couldn't see him.

"Well well, what's this? A Hollow?" asked a voice from behind him. L looked over his shoulder. Just how many exceptions were there to the 'Hollows-Are-Invisible' rule? There was a man standing there, beneath the harsh light of a streetlamp. He was dressed in a dark green robe and an odd green and white striped hat, smiling at the Hollow as if L was nothing more than a naughty pet that had run away.

"And if I am?" L asked him.

"Then you are a very strange Hollow indeed." The man replied. "Any normal Hollow would have attacked me by now."

"So I am not normal." L said as he turned away and started down the street again. "If that is all you wish to say, then leave me."

"Actually, a tame Hollow is a rare occurrence." The man said. "And I've an interest in such things. Why don't you come with me?"

"With you? Why-?" But L was interrupted by the jolly ring of a cell phone. The sound was rude and out of place in the quiet of the street. The man took the offending object out of his robe and held it to his ear.

"Yes? Oh, hello Rukia-san. What is it you want? Oh? Really? Actually, I think I've already met him. Yes, he's right here. Should I put him on? No? Okay then, I'll take him to my shop. It's no problem at all." He snapped the phone closed.

"Your friends have requested that I look after you for a while." The man said to L.

"Thank you, but I think I will be fine on my own." L said, turning away. "I have something I must attend to, and I do not need any more help."

The man seemed to consider this. "Tell me, Hollow-san…" he said. "…are you hungry?"

The Hollow visibly tensed. "Yes… I am…" He said.

"As a Hollow, you must consume souls to survive. But there has been enough killing already, hasn't there? There is an alternative…" The man offered.

L growled. Who was this man to get in his way? "Let me reiterate. I need no help. The two Death Gods I met before may have asked you personally, but I must decline."

"Fine, fine." The man held his hands up in submission. "But you're only going to get hungrier… and you may find that you won't be able to control yourself…"

The Hollow was silent, its head bowed, its back to the man in the hat. In the distance, a car's breaks screeched. Someone yelled. But it seemed that nothing major had happened, as silence fell once again. It was that way for a while until L sighed deeply, sounding like a steam engine coming to a stop. He looked at the man through one yellow eye.

"This will be another loss for me, you know." L said. "But I will come with you."

-----------

"Here!" Jinta dumped a rather beat-up cardboard box on the back porch. "Why are we taking care of a stupid Hollow anyway? It's probably going to eat us all as soon as we fall asleep!"

"Because, Jinta, this Hollow happens to be the friend of Kurosaki and Kuchiki." Urahara explained. "And they asked me to take care of him. Perhaps you could take this opportunity to learn a little more about Hollows."

"What else is there to learn? They'll eat you unless you kill them first. That's all there is to it." Jinta said, angrily kicking the box. "And what're you staring at?" He demanded. Ururu was watching L from the opposite end of the room. The Hollow, even though he could have fit through the door easily, was lying on the ground outside like a cat, half-curled with his chin resting on his clawed front feet.

"Don't think about it too much, Jinta." Urahara said. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I have some things to discuss with the Hollow."

"Yeah? Well, have fun being eaten. I'm going to bed!" Jinta said, dragging his tessen into his room after him.

Urahara watched him go. "Ururu, you too."

"Yes sir." Ururu bowed and turned to go, but looked over her shoulder at L one more time. "Goodnight, Hollow-san." She said, and disappeared into her own room.

L watched her leave, and then looked to Urahara. "You said you wanted to talk to me about something?"

"Yes, but first, eat." Urahara pointed to the box with his cane.

L hoisted himself up on his front legs and examined the box. The cardboard was faded and old. It was far past the expiration date stamped on the side. Nothing about it was remotely appetizing… except for the smell. It smelled just like the black-robed Death Gods had; beyond description but irresistible. Before, L had held back with all his willpower. Now, he seized the ragged box in his jaws and tore into it, spilling small white pills everywhere. Urahara watched this spectacle with mild interest, brushing a few pills off his laps when they landed on him.

"Reiatsu-replenishment pills." He said to L when the Hollow had finished most of the box's contents and was now hunting around for any he might have missed. "They're old, but it looks like there was still a little juice left in them."

"Reiatsu… that's the only thing Hollows can eat." L licked up a few pills caught in a crack in the pavement. "I suppose this was the alternative you spoke of before."

"Yup, this is better than making more Hollows." Urahara said. "I've got about a dozen boxes in storage. They've been there for years. But anyway, I suppose you have questions about all this… L-san."

The Hollow lay back down on the ground and crossed his front feet. He chose to look at them rather than at the shopkeeper. He was still not happy about having to accept more help. On all his previous cases he had had as little assistance as possible. Now, that wasn't an option. It bothered him. "You accept my identity with no doubt. Why is that?" L asked.

"Well, from all the things you told me on our way back here, how could I not?" Urahara replied. "Besides, most Hollows are not smart enough to lie about their identity in order to get free food."

"I will take that as a compliment." L said. "There is another thing I have been wondering about ever since I met the two Death God children a few hours ago…"

"The different Shinigami?" Urahara asked.

"Yes… how did you know?"

"Oh, I thought it might come up. It's a long story, so make yourself comfortable.

"There are two different Shinigami realms: Soul Society and Mortuus. Both are very different from each other. You see, further back than most spirits can remember, there were two realms of Death Gods. One of the types of Death Gods, the kind that I and Kurosaki are, acted as psychopomps, guiding good spirits to the afterlife. 'Heaven,' you might call it. The other kind, the ones with the notebooks, were in charge of eliminating undesirable humans from the living world. The two realms worked together, trying to create a utopia for the living. Of course, a utopia was not possible due to simple human nature. The more perfect and controlled the world became, the more humans acted out, committing acts of evil, and as a result being killed by the Shinigami judges of Mortuus. Eventually the Soul Society Shinigami decided that perfection simply could not be achieved and ordered the Mortuus Shinigami to stop killing so many humans. But the Mortuus Shinigami refused, believing their goal could still be reached. In the end, a battle was fought between the two realms, and the Mortuus Shinigami were defeated and locked out of Soul Society, their numbers greatly diminished. They still use their notebooks to stay alive, but they are mostly inactive since they no longer serve a purpose. There has been little, if any, interaction between the two types of Death Gods for hundreds of years."

L was silent, his tufted tail sweeping the ground as he contemplated Urahara's story.

"I'm not too familiar with the sleeping patterns of Hollows, but I'm going to bed." The shopkeeper said. "It's been a longer night than I'm used to."

"That is fine." L responded, still deep in thought. "Tomorrow, do not expect to find me here. I have something I must do, as soon as possible. And thank you for the food."

"No problem. Good luck with whatever you have planned, Hollow-san." Urahara said as he closed the back door behind him. He did not know it, but before he himself would fall asleep that night, L would already be gone.


	5. Rigor Mortis

_It seems I now have a definite time frame within these two mangas. The Bleach part occurs early during the Arrancar arc. Orihime has been captured, but her friends may or may not know it, depending on where the story goes. The Death Note part occurs around the very beginning of chapter 62. The location of the surveillance room the Kira investigation is using in ch. 62 was not shown in great detail so I had to use my imagination. I assumed it was in the same building as when L was heading the investigation. Even if it's not, please don't make me rewrite it. I already had to rewrite part of this and it was not easy._

_This was originally supposed to be a chapter near the end, and L was supposed to have killed Raito. But then the story would be over too soon._

_Once again, I own none of these characters, except for L's Hollow form._

_And once again, should I put this in the Death Note category too?_

_-Nir_

**Ch 5. Rigor Mortis**

Kira Investigation HQ, 1:18 am

The small room was bathed in the whitish glow from the computer screen. It fell over the armchairs and couch and the small glass table, and the face of the young man sitting before it. He flicked the mouse, scrolling through a page of data tables, but his mind wasn't registering it. Soon Ide and Aizawa would be here to take over for him. As passionate as he was about maintaining his image as both Kira and L, lack of sleep was making it hard for him to focus. The droning of the computer's fan and the room's heat didn't help.

It sounded like it was raining outside. He could afford a quick break if it would help him stay awake and find the group that had kidnapped his sister. The young man made his way downstairs, past the security that was still there from when the first L was running the investigation, and stepped outside. The back door led out onto a deserted street. All but one of the streetlights were out. Raindrops glinted briefly in the light as they fell. The entire street was dark otherwise, except for the headlights of a car in the distance.

The young man watched them, as they seemed to be coming closer, though slowly, and they were accompanied by a clicking sound that was almost covered up by the pattering of the rain. Then the lights turned to focus on him, narrowed, and he realized they were not lights at all. They were eyes.

"Who's-" he stared to ask, but something lashed out and knocked him to the ground. A monster with a grinning, mask-like face stood over him, half-lit by the lone streetlamp behind it. It had him trapped against the cold wall of the building, its dangerously sharp claws blocking any exits.

"Hello, Raito." It said. "It's been a while, so I do not expect you to recognize me."

"I don't know any monsters…" Raito gasped. The suddenness of this attack combined with the painful bruise on his side where the creature had hit him made it hard to breathe, let alone speak. "What do you want?"

"Has all the time you've spent with Death Gods made you immune to fear, Raito?" The creature asked. "Your reaction is much milder than I expected." It surveyed its captive, its luminous eyes intense behind its oily fringe. "Tell me… do you know what it's like to be dead?"

Raito shook his head. He could yell for help, but the rain had gotten harder, and it was doubtful anyone would hear him. And who knew what this monster would do if he tried something like that…

"It's not fun at all." The monster said. "It was torture. Sitting by my grave, day after day… stewing in my own resentment and frustration. I had failed. I had proved nothing. I didn't even notice that all that emotion sped up the degrading of the chain hanging from my chest. Only when it was too late…" The creature's toothy mouth was open slightly. Raito could see a second set of teeth in there, clenched in anger or the effort of holding back from attacking.

"Who are you?" Raito asked, but he felt he already knew the answer.

"I think you already know." The monster said quietly.

Raito laughed weakly at its furious expression. "Yeah, I do. L."

The monster growled, flicking its tail anxiously.

"So what happened to you? Why did you come back?" Raito asked, boldly trying to keep his fear from showing. Those talons were each longer than his forearm and looked extremely sharp.

"If I cannot expose you, I cannot rest." L explained. "I've been thinking hard about this and I've come to only one conclusion." The creature hung its head. "I cannot prove anything. Not in this condition."

"So you've come all this way to tell me you've given up?" Raito asked, preparing to run as soon as he had the opportunity. The monster's posture was relaxed. It wouldn't be able to come after him that quickly…

"When did I say I was giving up?" L peered at Raito from behind his grinning mask and slammed the boy to the ground with one large, clawed hand. "What you have done, whether you believe it to be divine judgment or not, is wrong. At the beginning of this case, I swore to see you brought to justice."

Raito struggled to pull L's claws off his chest. He could hardly breathe. "How… do you know…"

"The look on your face during my final moments. You were smiling. I had no doubt. You are Kira. You killed me." L growled, low and menacing. "And I am going to make sure you never kill again."

To L's surprise, Raito grinned. "So you really think killing me will destroy Kira?" L stared as his captive, his glowing eyes unreadable. "You've been gone a long time, L. I've been busy in your absence. How do you know I'm the only Kira now? How do you know how many notebooks are in the human world? It won't stop. As long as there are notebooks, Kira will live on. Killing me won't change a single thing." Raito struggled to talk as L's grip tightened again. His ribs felt like they were going to shatter.

L's skeletal grin seemed to mock Raito's pain.

"You're right." L said. "Killing you may not defeat Kira. That is why you are going to be the one to stop it. I have no doubt you were the first Kira, and you know who has the notebooks."

Raito glared at the monster. L continued, "Tell them to stop, and I won't kill you. You have one week."

"A week?" Raito laughed weakly. "In a week I could disappear. You'd never find me, and Kira could continue his judgment."

"Yes, Raito." L growled softly, ominously. "That is why I am going to do this." He pressed down on Raito's chest and felt two of Raito's ribs break with a faint SNAP! The boy under his claws yelled in sudden agony, grasping at the black talons that held him. L lifted his foot from Raito's prone form.

"One week. Then, I will come for you. No matter where you are." The monster repeated, and turned, stalking off into the shadows.

Raito lay on the wet ground, trying not to breathe too deeply. The slightest movement sent pain coursing up his sides. He couldn't yell for help; the pain would be too great. Something cold and hard landed in his hand. He turned it over in his palm. It was a cell phone. Raito hadn't been carrying one before…

L had put it there, to make sure Raito could contact help. To make sure he would live to stop the killings.

"L…" Raito groaned as he dialed 911. "You bastard."

------------------

"Sources say there is still no telling what or who attacked this young man last night. It appeared to be some sort of large animal, judging from the large claw marks on the wall. Yagami has declined an interview-" The small TV's blathering was shut off as Urahara pressed the mute button.

"Hmm, I wonder what it could have been…" The shopkeeper mused, looking out the semitransparent back door. L's blurry silhouette was crouched against it as the Hollow sat by himself in pensive silence. He had just gotten back an hour ago, and had seated himself there after tearing a hole in the door and grabbing another box of expired reiatsu pills. Tessai had already repaired the screen. Urahara slid it open.

"Hollow-san! How was your trip?" He called jovially.

"It went more or less as expected." L answered without turning around. "I gave him a week. He will not be able to travel with the injury I gave him."

"You hurt him? You don't seem like the violent type." Urahara said.

"It was nothing more than psychology. I wanted to show him he is not completely in control." L tipped the cardboard box over, making sure he hadn't missed any pills. "If Kira's judgment continues, I will go after him. Even if he goes into hiding it will not be difficult for me to track him down. Exposure to the Death Note strengthens one's spiritual energy, it seems, and he has had plenty of exposure…"


	6. Rotten

_Happy 2007! I didn't get to watch the ball drop this year. I stayed up watching LOTR: Two Towers until about 11 and then I fell asleep. Then I woke up at 3 because it had started raining and some drop was making continual banging noises. And I had lost my earplugs, so it was a miserable night._

_Rather short chapter. Mmm… dunno how time flows in Mortuus. The name 'Mortuus' is a misspelling of the word 'Mortus' which is Latin for 'Death.' I wanted to call it 'Realm of Death' in Latin, but the translator couldn't do it. Mortuus sound cooler, anyway. Hospital name is random. I was thinking of Canti from FLCL I guess. Anybody know where I can watch it online? It was deleted on YouTube._

_Once again, Death Note is © Tsugumi Ohba and Bleach is © Tite Kubo_

_Vinny is of my own design. Maybe I'll have some concept art of him uploaded next chapter._

_-Nir_

**Ch 6. Rotten**

8 1 18 5 9 3 6, Mortuus

"Tell me more about how this notebook works."

"I can't." The Death God gazed dolefully at the two men standing below it. "None of us really know how it works. We don't use it that often."

The spindly creature was perched on a pile of rocks and bones that formed an archway. The portal had opened right underneath it, nearly scaring the Shinigami into falling off. It had been annoyed that its nap was interrupted, but now it was nervous. No creature could have gotten access to the realm of the Death Gods before, except for the occasional Howler that breached the barrier at a weak point. And these two other humanoid Shinigami in white, their presences contrasting so sharply with the dull, bleak surroundings.

"I see…" The man flipped through the blank notebook, as if looking for an instruction page. His partner spoke, "You gave it to us for a reason, right? You knew we were gonna come lookin' for you. Hueco Mundo touches a lotta diff'rent dimensions."

"Yes." The Death God replied. "You see, our king wishes to make a deal with you."

"Hm? A deal?" The first man looked up from the notebook. "What could you possibly have to offer us?"

"That." The Death God pointed to the notebook. "There is one of us who is an expert on its usage. We can get him for you if you agree to work with us."

"I'm sorry, but I doubt Aizen-sama will be interested in-"

"Quiet, Gin." The first man, Aizen, commanded. "As a matter of fact, I do think this notebook will be of use to me. It lets me kill anybody I wish to, right? Anybody who might help me toward my goal…"

"I don't care what you do with it." The Death God said. "Just as long as we get what we want."

"And that is...?"

"Your previous home, Soul Society. You are Shinigami from there, yes? No ordinary human could have gotten access to our realm." The Death God shifted into a more comfortable position on the arc of stone and bone, and continued, "Our world is rotten. It is dying. If we continue to exist here, we will die with it. Already our numbers have dwindled, and there were not many of us to begin with. But with a healthy world like yours, we could live again…" It looked wistfully into the distance, its dark eyes glazed over and unfocused. "But… of course we will not interfere with any plans you might have for Soul Society."

"I'm sure we can work something out." Aizen said. "First, I need to know more about the Death Note. Bring me your so-called expert, and I'll decide whether or not it is worth the entire realm of Soul Society."

--------------------------

7:10 pm, Kanti Hospital

"I guess it's true what they say." Ryuk chuckled from his vantage point upside-down on the ceiling. "What goes around comes around! You killed L, and now he wants you kill you, heh heh."

Raito ignored the Shinigami as he examined the open Death Note. He could write in it if he wanted to. Ryuk had checked and there were no hidden cameras or bugs in the hospital room. There was a small TV across from his bed, too.

But he didn't. He had already changed the dates of death for any criminal he had planned to die in the next few weeks. It was different now. L was back, and he posed a new sort of threat. It wasn't the threat of being found out by the police. It didn't matter how careful Raito was in his calculations of when and where to kill. If it happened at all in the next few days, L would kill him. Or, the creature that called itself L would.

In his injured state, Raito wouldn't be able get far away quickly. The damage done by L's attack was worse than he had originally thought. Not only were 2 of his ribs broken, but several of his organs had been punctured. He had been unconscious for three days after the surgery. The doctors had asked him again and again what attacked him, but he always told them he didn't remember. They wouldn't believe him, anyway.

He would stop… for a while anyway. Long enough to travel where L could never find him. Another country, maybe. L couldn't follow him across the ocean. There were criminals to be judged everywhere. But L couldn't have threatened him at a worse time. A mafia group led by one of L's successors was determined to get their hands on a Death Note, and Raito couldn't afford to be without its use, even for a few days. But it seemed like had had no choice.

There were four days left. Misa had the only other Death Note, and though she had been to visit a few times while Raito was unconscious, he hadn't been able to talk to her directly. Hopefully she would be back again today. It was already getting late…

"Hey, Raito." Ryuk called. "How d'you think L got turned into one of those?"

"One what?" Raito asked. Ryuk dropped down from the ceiling and landed on the end of Raito's bed.

"A Howler." The Shinigami replied. "Big, ugly masked creatures. They get into the Death God realm once in a while. 'S not easy to get 'em out, lemme tell you…"

Raito tapped his pen on the notebook's blank page. He had tried calling Misa, but she hadn't answered or replied to any of the messages he'd left. She was probably too busy loyally fulfilling her duty as Kira while Raito was out of commission.

"Meh, you're boring." Ryuk grumbled and turned on the TV. Kira was still at large. There had been more killings. "Looks like Misa's going her job." The Death God commented. "Hey, are you really going to stop judging other humans?" He asked, "Just 'cuz a Howler threatened you?"

"I suppose I'll lay low for a while. It'll be hard, seeing as I'm the head of the Kira investigation, but I'll find a way." Raito replied, closing the Death Note.

"Hmph. Boring." Ryuk flipped through the channels.

There came a faint tapping at the window. Both human and Death God turned to look. There seemed to be nobody there. Ryuk nodded at the invisible tapper. "Raito, hold out your hand." The Death God instructed.

"One of your friends?" Raito guessed, holding his arm out. His side twinged painfully. It would probably be sore for many more months, but it was bearable. Something hard brushed against his fingertips and another Shinigami materialized in front of his eyes. It was smaller and thinner than Ryuk, resembling a scrawny gargoyle. A pair of spindly, demonic wings were folded over its shoulders. Its death note was held in its outstretched hand. It slipped it back into a crude pouch on its belt.

"Vinny!" Ryuk apparently knew this Death God. "What're you doing here?"

"My name is Vindicated," The new Death God said. "Not 'Vinny.' I've been sent to trade notes with you. The Shinigami King wants to see you."

"Really? Wow, must be important if the Head Honcho himself is involved." Ryuk said. "Raito, I need my Death Note."

"Wait a second." Raito looked at Vindicated. The smaller Death God flinched, as if he had expected Raito to hit him. "Why do you need Ryuk specifically?"

"H-he knows how to use the Note better than all of us, from staying with you." Vindicated stammered. "That's the only reason the King gave. But you won't be without a Note, for I'll be staying here in Ryuk's place."

"That's fine. I know how to use the Note well enough that I don't need a Death God's assistance." Raito said, holding out Ryuk's Note. The Death God took it and handed it to Vindicated. "Just make sure the human doesn't do anything too crazy." Ryuk said to the other Death God, who swallowed nervously and handed his own Note over.

"See ya, Raito." Ryuk said as he exited through the wall. On his way out, he snatched an apple from the bowl beside Raito's bed.


	7. Anxiety

Thank you so much for all the reviews! 

_Honestly, I didn't intend to have this chapter here. It just…sort of formed out of what will now be chapter 8. It's not really a necessary chapter, but there are a few parts in it that I like. Plus, I wanted Ryuk to annoy Aizen for a bit._

_The next chapter will be much better, I promise._

_Bleach © Tite Kubo_

_Death Note © Tsugumi Ohba_

Ch 7. Anxiety 

Urahara Shoten, 7: 33 am

Ever since L had gotten back from his trip to the city, he had been acting… well... less L-like. He was distracted, reclusive, and restless, pacing during the night and talking to himself, sometimes growling loud enough to wake the entire shop. During the day L would listen to the news almost constantly. He was so preoccupied that he didn't even notice Ururu had braided the spiky fur on his tail tip.

"Let me ask you this, Hollow-san." Urahara asked on the morning of the 6h day of warning. "What if Kira does stop? You're sticking around to make sure you can go after him if he doesn't, but what if he does? What will you do then?"

"I will stay." L replied, biting one of his claws anxiously. "I know for certain he will not stop forever. I must be here, in case any human uses the Death Note wit the same intentions as Kira."

"Well, you're certainly not going to stay here much longer." Urahara said. "I'm almost out of things to feed you. And if you start going after actual souls, we'll have to slay you."

"It will not come to that. Never." L assured, but Urahara wasn't so sure. L was clearly losing the battle against the savage instinct that came with his transformation. It seemed he couldn't think straight most of the time, and lost every single game of Shogi that Urahara played with him. Plain and simple, the Hollow was a nervous wreck.

"Your Hollow buddy is gonna crack any day now." Jinta said, leaning on the open door's frame. "Why don't you put it out of its misery? I can't take much more of its moaning at night."

"Leave L-san alone, Jinta." Ururu scolded from her place on the edge of the porch. "He can't help if being a Hollow hurts him." The little girl had taken an odd interest in the Hollow. Perhaps it was because she had never been so close to once before without fear of attack.

"Do not worry about me." L turned his glowing eyes on the two children. "I will not be staying much longer. I have only one more day, and then I…" He did not finish, but looked away, turning his attention back to the 24-hour news broadcast he had been watching before.

--------------------

Hueco Mundo, 3:37pm

As soon as Ryuk saw Hueco Mundo, and the massive fortress of Las Noches, he had decided they both looked very dull. Everything was either black or white. It lacked the vibrant hues of the living world, but then again, nobody here was alive. Maybe it didn't matter to the Howlers, or Hollows, as his new master called them, what color the landscape was. How very, very dull.

"So… the notebook?" The Death God who seemed to be in charge of the whole operation was a guy named Aizen. He reminded Ryuk of Raito, when Raito was in his high-and-mighty God-mode. Quite arrogant, but in control. Intelligent, too. "There are rules for how it works?"

"Yeah." Ryuk answered. The couch he was sitting on was more of an artfully shaped hunk of marble than a seating apparatus. This entire place was built for looks, not comfort. Perhaps all his time in the human world has made me soft, Ryuk thought. "I left my how-to-use guide in the one Raito's got right now, but I think I can remember most of the rules. The first one was: The human who's name is written in this notebook shall die."

"Yes, I knew that." Aizen said. "But I need to know more about how to use it across different dimensions."

"You wanna kill living humans?" Ryuk asked. "From here? Why?"

"I'll ask you not to question my motives, Shinigami."

Ryuk was startled. Even Raito had never spoken to him so coldly. Who did this man think he was? "It was just a question. After all, I'm not doing this because I want to. Let me in on your plan. It's not like I'll stop you." He said.

"It is not necessary that you know." Aizen said. "If you'd like, we can spend time trying to find ways to torture information out of Mortuusan Shinigami instead."

"No, no, you don't have to do that. Geez…" Ryuk was liking this Aizen guy less and less. "The first guy I gave my Death Note to did a bunch of tests with it. We found that peoples' actions can also be controlled before their death, among other things. So… why not do a few more tests? It couldn't hurt."

"No, it couldn't. But we mustn't let Soul Society notice."

"Notice what?"

"I just said to keep quiet about that!" Aizen said angrily, and then closed his eyes, trying to regain his composure. Ryuk chuckled. Maybe this would be a little fun after all.


	8. Beyond All Thought and Reason

_We had a morning with similar conditions to the one I described in this chapter. It was really pretty. Such a lovely morning for such a bloody chapter. Enjoy._

_-Nir_

_Bleach © Tite Kubo_

_Death Note © Tsugumi Ohba_

**Ch 8. Beyond All Thought And Reason**

4: 30 am, outside Kanti Hospital

It was still dim and foggy outside as Raito made his way down the stone steps outside the hospital. It was much to early to be out of his bed, the doctors had told him, but the worst of Raito's injury had already been healed. Modern medicine sure was amazing. Besides, he would be careful. He had talked with Misa earlier, and she had made sure there would be a car parked and waiting for him to make his getaway.

The car was there, an SUV with a bland gray paint job. Raito unlocked it with the keys Misa had given him and got in. As he was pulling out onto the street, his cell phone rang. He checked the caller ID. It was Misa.

"Did I get everything right that you told me to?" Misa asked. "You didn't tell me much, but sometimes I still forget-"

"No, Misa, you did fine." Raito told her. "Listen, we're going to convince the investigation team that we need to relocate our base someplace overseas. Europe maybe."

"Why?" Misa asked.

"We're at risk here." Raito said. He wasn't about to tell her that a demon named L was after his blood. He and Misa had made sure no criminals would die for a while. At least until Raito was sure L couldn't come after him.

"Aww, that's the same thing you told me when you made me stop writing in the Death Note." Misa whined. "Why aren't you telling me anything?"

"I will, Misa." Raito said soothingly. "I will." He slowed down as he came to an intersection. The sun was peeking over the horizon, its orange light reflecting off the water vapor in the air, setting the low-lying clouds on fire. The atmosphere was tie-dyed orange and blue. But in between the swirling hues were two sulfur-colored lights, like headlights, but up too high to be on any car or truck. Behind them was a familiar, angular silhouette, waiting expectant. Waiting for him.

Raito felt his heart skip.

"Misa…" he whispered, as if the owner of those glowing eyes could hear him. "You haven't written in your Death Note, have you?"

"No." Misa said. "You told me not to, so I didn't."

"And you made sure to change the dates of any deaths that were supposed to happen this week?"

"Oh…" Misa faltered. "No, I didn't think of that. Why?"

"Misa-!" Raito's reply was drowned out as the silhouette raised its head and howled, a long, drawn-out sound somewhere between a scream and a roar. It seemed amazing that none of the other drivers could hear it.

"Raito? Raito, what was that sound?" Misa asked, but Raito had already dropped the phone to the floor and was turning the steering wheel.

There's no way it's seen me yet, he told himself. It couldn't have noticed…

But the monster's gaze followed him as he turned to the right. It stepped over the car in front of it and crossed the intersection in one fluid movement, its head held low in a predatory stance.

Fortunately for Raito, it was early and the traffic wasn't bad. If he could just get to the highway, there was no way L could outrun him there. But the creature wasn't having too much trouble keeping up with the car. In fact, it was gaining rapidly. Raito pressed down on the gas pedal, pushing the speed limit as far as he dared. Several other drivers beeped as he sped by them, and yelled a few seconds later when L knocked their cars out of the way.

He's the same as always, Raito thought. Not afraid to risk the lives of others to get what he wants.

He made another hard right turn. L saw it coming early and rebounded off the face of a building in front of him, breaking two of the windows but not his stride. He continued his chase without missing a beat. Raito cursed and gave the car extra speed. L matched it.

The exit to the highway loomed near. Raito raced for it, but slowed as L launched himself over the car. The monster landed in front of it and swiped his long claws across the grill, turning the car 90. The vehicle spun and swerved and Raito tried to right it. He took off in the opposite direction with L still in pursuit. Something warm and sticky was dripping down his stomach. Some of his stitches had split.

The streets were lined with buildings. It was like a canyon with no way to climb out. All Raito could do was drive until he either lost L or ran out of gas… or until he was caught. But that wouldn't happen. There was no way Kira was meeting his downfall at the hands of some shaggy, overgrown lizard creature.

The squeal of metal and shattering of glass warned Raito the L was getting close again. The monster's claws had torn a hunk of the car's backside off, breaking the rear window as well. Raito turned sharply and cut across a large slab of sidewalk in the middle of another intersection, scattering the few pedestrians that were out this early. He must have looked insane, driving around at breakneck speed with the back of his car torn off. Something nudged the side of the car, tipping it sideways. L was sprinting alongside the SUV. He bumped it again, and growled, sounding almost playful.

"Leave me alone you freak!" Raito yelled at the monster. "Why didn't you stay dead like you were supposed to?!"

L snarled. He grabbed the side door with his jaws and ripped it off, then flung it backwards where it shattered the window of an electronics store, sending a cloud of glass fragments spraying all over the sidewalk. Raito swerved again, narrowly avoiding colliding with a parked car on his right. The traffic light up ahead was red, but he ran right through it, just before a large tractor-trailer passed behind him. There was an immense CRASH as L ran headfirst into its back end and caused the truck to tip over. The monster was back on Raito's tail before the trailer hit the ground.

Perhaps L had planned it, and perhaps he had not. But Raito knew where this road led. It led to an immense glass and metal edifice known as the Desaki Hotel. The hotel was still under construction, so the large semicircular parking lot in front of it was empty. Thinking quickly, Raito decided he would enter on the right side, head for the left, but then turn around and exit back out the right, hopefully throwing L off and giving him enough time to lose the monster that had chased him for a straight hour.

What Raito didn't intend, however, was for L to throw himself at the vehicle as it passed the center of the parking lot. L had built up enough momentum to send both Hollow and SUV flying through the inch-and-a-half pane of glass that formed the front and side walls of the hotel's lobby. The car landed upside-down, the windows shattered and the frame bent by L's weight.

Raito felt himself thrown from the car as it landed and skidded the 30 feet to the reception desk. He picked himself up off the floor, amid shards of glass, some taller than he was. Oddly enough, he didn't feel hurt at all. But where was…

He turned to look at the wreck of the car. It was pushed aside as L hauled himself out from underneath it. The monster had many large cuts on his chest and forelimbs. Glass splinters stuck out from some of them. One of his front digits looked badly broken. It was twisted completely around, and the one next to it was kinked. Droplets of blood peppered the floor beneath him.

Raito stood up, feeling oddly confident. "Why can't you see that you've lost, L?" He asked. The monster growled between its panted breaths. "You lost when Kira killed you. You lost when you couldn't figure out Kira's identity. You're dead. I'm alive. Give up already."

L took a step toward Raito. "Oh, no…" He growled. "You're wrong. You're the one who's dead…" He bent his head downward and picked something up off the ground. It was a slender chain. One end of it led into the broken driver's side window of the decimated SUV. "Do you know what this is, Raito? It's a chain. Your chain. Look at your chest."

Raito put a hand to his chest and felt something hard and cold. He looked down. There was an octagonal metal plate attached to the front of his jacket, with a chain hanging off it. He gripped the metal links. "What is this?" He demanded.

"You're a spirit, Raito." L explained. "Your not dead yet; your earthly body is still in the car. This is your Chain of Fate. It connects you to your vessel. But if it were to be broken…" L put his injured foot on the chain and jerked it once with his jaws. It snapped with a clear CHINK. "You would be dead."

"I'm…" Raito gripped the links he was still holding. "Dead…"

"Yes…" L said softly, still holding the end of Raito's Chain of Fate.. "How does it feel?"

"It feels-" Raito didn't get to finish, as L swung his head around, sending the newly-deceased human flying into another pane of glass that divided the lobby's seating area from the rest of the room. The glass shattered and Raito was thrown to the floor again. Blood dripped into his eyes from the cut on his forehead, and his nose felt like it was surely broken. But he was dead! How could he be hurt if he was dead? He spat onto the floor. Blood, and a few of his teeth.

"That was for Watari!" L snarled, and whipped his head around again, this time smashing Raito into the floor in front of the receptionist's desk. Every nerve on the side of Raito's body that had hit the floor was numb and then screaming. He couldn't even tell L to stop, it hurt so badly. His skull felt like it had been broken into several pieces.

"For the FBI agents!" L said, again swinging the helpless soul around by his Fate Chain and smashing Raito onto the tiled floor. "For Naomi and Raye!"

Finally, L swung the broken and bleeding soul upward and announced, "And this… is for me." He caught Raito in his jaws, and proceeded to deliver his retribution.

-----------------------

6: 10 am, Desaki Hotel

"Looks like we're a little late." Ichigo commented as he observed the scene in front of the Desaki Hotel.

"Yeah…" Rukia agreed. There were a half-dozen police cars parked in front of the lobby. Even from their vantage point on the hotel's room the two Shinigami could see the extent of the damage. "Let's get down there."

It was a worse scene for Ichigo and Rukia than it was for the police. All the police saw was a lot of glass and an overturned SUV. The spiritually aware Death Gods saw the blood splattered on the walls and floor and shards of glass littering it. The two stepped inside.

"Where is he?" Ichigo asked, referring to L. "Did you say you could feel his presence in here?"

"Yes, I did. He's still here." Rukia replied, kicking a large splinter out of her way. "Look. Over there…"

Two yellow eyes glowed from the shadowy back of the lobby. Then, with an animalistic scream, the Hollow charged at the two reapers. But Ichigo was ready.

"Getsuga Tenshou!" He yelled, swinging his zanpakto and sending a crescent-shaped wave of energy at the Hollow. L jumped to avoid it, but wasn't fast enough. The energy sliced off his left front leg just below the elbow, and he tripped and fell face-first in front of the two Death Gods. The Hollow struggled up onto his remaining foot, the one that had been half-crushed and snarled at the reapers, but Ichigo put Zangetsu's point to L's throat. L glared down at them, all traces of the calm, thoughtful creature they had first met were gone. The only thing left was the hunger and pain of a Hollow.

"Get a hold of yourself!" Ichigo yelled. "What did you do?!"

"He's killed something." Rukia said. "A soul. That's why the policemen can't see the blood… looks like there's nothing left to soul bury."

"I…" L looked at the two Death Gods. Some of the killer light had gone out of his eyes. "Yes… I killed him. But I had to. I would have gone crazy."

"Then you should have!" Ichigo said. "You should have warned us before you went and killed someone!"

"No, you don't understand. I had to! It was part of that unfinished business I told you about when we first met." L explained. "Now that I'm done… you can destroy me."

"What? Destroy you? What are you talking about?" Ichigo demanded. The tip of Zangetsu's blade was poking into L's neck. A single rivulet of dark blood oozed down the Hollow's chest.

"You can't control it anymore, can you?" Rukia said. "The rage of your Hollow form?"

"No… I can't." L admitted. "Do it now, while I'm sane and I can remember the last thing I saw and thought. Do it now."

"Okay." Ichigo gritted his teeth as he gripped Zangetsu's hilt with both hands. L let his body fall forward onto the blade. As he slid down it, the yellow eyes dimmed, then faded altogether. The Hollow dissolved into dark red and white ripples and disappeared. A single black butterfly spread its wings and floated on the supernatural breeze upward.

----------------------

9: 44 pm, Desaki Hotel

"Raito-san? Where are you?" Vindicated stepped tentatively into the broken remains of the hotel lobby. "I… I didn't realize you had left. I was waiting for you outside your hotel room… really, I was." The Death God's voice shook. There was a very ominous feeling about this place. It was a murder scene, but Death Gods were always present at those. Something else must be causing it.

A chink of broken glass. Vindicated spun around, his long tail flicking anxiously.

"A-are you there, Raito-san?" Vin asked. He got a low, angry growl in response.

"A-ah-ah…" The Death God stammered as he backed away from the source of the noise. "Who's there? Is that you, Raito-san?"

Two glowing eyes in a skeletal face loomed in the darkness. A pair of jagged, demonic wings unfolded from the shadows as the Hollow stalked toward the frightened Death God.

"H-h-howler…" Vindicated stood frozen. It was a Hollow, also known as Howlers by the Shinigami of Mortuus. One of the few creatures with the natural capability to kill Gods of Death.

"Stay away from me!" Cried Vindicated. "Get back! Go! Go away!"

But of course the Hollow didn't listen. It didn't listen when Vindicated asked it to spare his life either.


	9. Wings

I had this chapter written before chapter 8, which is not all that unusual for me. Anyway, whoopee! Arrancars! Though I must say it worries me just how many characters I will have to use in this story to make it work.

If some of you can't remember back that far, Ryuk is referencing a time near the beginning of the DN manga when Raito says it would be neat to have a Shinigami's wings rather than its eyes.

Oh, by the way, if you don't try very hard to spell right when you're typing, you get all sorts of neat words like 'physusical.'

_-Nir_

_Bleach © Tite Kubo_

_Death Note © Tsugumi Ohba_

**Ch. 9 Wings**

11:46 pm, on top of the Desaki Hotel

The Hollow was perched atop a skyscraper a few buildings over, a demonic sentry. It had not yet given any signs that it knew of the two Arrancar watching it.

"Looks like an Adjuchas. They're rare. You may not see another for a while, Marjera." Said one Arrancar to his partner. The other did not respond.

"Marjera, could you at least pretend you are interested? I'm not doing this for my health, you know."

"Neh?" The other Arrancar murmured, looking to his superior with wide, purple eyes. He had been examining his reflection in the window of the tall building he and his superior were standing next to, suspended several hundred feet in the air.

"Pay attention. If you are really so 'pure' as Aizan-sama says, you should have no problem doing this on your own next time." Ulquiorra said as he looked at the new recruit disdainfully. The younger Arrancar, Wonderwyce as he was called, peered at the Hollow as if it were an interesting animal in a pet store. Like he wanted to go play with it.

"To capture anything less than a Vastrode you will use this." Said Ulquiorra as he removed something from his pocket and held it out. It looked like a tightly wrapped ball of linen bandages inside a clear glass orb. The younger Arrancar, curious as always, reached out to examine it himself. Ulquiorra held it away from him. "Not yet." He told Wonderwyce. "This time, you are only going to watch."

Wonderwyce cooed in disappointment, but followed his superior as Ulquiorra approached the Hollow. Being of the Menos class it was more humanoid than most, its only unusual physical features were its claws, long tail, and a pair of large, spiny wings seated on its shoulders. Its smooth skin was dark gray patterned with intricate swirls of black. It was silently watching the dark street below.

"Unusual." Ulquiorra looked over the Hollow's shoulder. "Are you waiting for something?" He asked it.

The Hollow sighed. "I… I'm not sure. I feel like I should be watching for something. I died near here, but I can't remember how or why…"

"Again, unusual." Ulquiorra observed, idly rolling the capture orb in his pale fingers. "It sounds as if you need a purpose…"

"That would be nice…" The Hollow said, sounding almost dreamy. It hadn't looked up from the street yet. "I had a purpose once, and I remember I enjoyed it. It would be good to have one again."

"I see…" Ulquiorra let the orb drift free of his fingers. "Then please hold still. This is only necessary."

"What's-?" The Hollow started to turn around, but before it had the chance, the orb exploded. The bits of crystal forming the outer casing floated suspended as the bandages unwound, rapidly binding the Hollow from head to tail. Enraged at being caught off-guard, the Hollow thrashed and screeched as the bandages wound around it. Desperately it spread its wings in preparation to fly. Its jagged wings beat only once and were then snagged and brought close to its body. There was a sharp CRACK as they both broke from the pressure. The Hollow screamed in pain and rage.

Meanwhile, Wonderwyce was watching the spectacle from behind an air conditioning vent. Was this how he himself had been captured? Had it been this painful? He could not remember, and it frightened him.

----------------------

Hueco Mundo, 4: 16 am

The Espada were preparing for the birth of another Arrancar. Not many spectators had shown up. Ryuk guessed the novelty of it wore off pretty quickly. Aizen, the new owner of Vin's Death Note, had been killing willy-nilly, making Hollows out of any tactical expert or genius he desired to have working for him. It had taken a while to figure out how to kill humans from his base in Hueco Mundo (something about dropping it in the human word first, then taking it back through a portal after picking it up.) but with all the results he was getting, it had been worth it in the end. At least, to Aizen and his cohorts it had been. Ryuk was no longer useful to them, and he was getting bored. So why not watch another Arrancar be born? It wasn't like he had anything better to do.

Two burly Arrancar entered carrying the subdued Hollow. The positioned it in the luminous transformation chamber as one of Aizen's Soul Society Shinigami friends watched, tossing the Hokyoku up in the air with one hand as if it were a rubber fall. It was that guy with the silver hair. Creepy dude, always smiling like he knew something everyone else didn't. What was his name? Gil? Gun? Gunther… Gin. Yeah, that was it. Ryuk found he could see the names and lifelines of the three Shinigami running the place, but only the names of the Arrancar and Hollows. Perhaps it had to do with the Arrancars' lack of a spiritual 'heart,' because that was the only big difference between the two. Still, Ryuk was quite shocked when he saw the name hovering above the wrapped-up Hollow's head.

"Raito?" Ryuk jumped down from his high vantage point for a closer look. There was no mistaking it. Raito was not a very common name. The Hollow, though stunned and in pain, was still struggling weakly against its captors. The bony shapes of its broken wings were visible under its wrappings.

"So, Raito, you finally got those wings you wanted…" Ryuk chuckled to himself. "But in a place like this it doesn't look like you'll get much of a chance to use them."


	10. Welcome

_Sorry this took so long again. I blame it on a combination of midterms and writer's block. Let me just say that this chapter was freaking IMPOSSIBLE to write. Well, I wrote it so it's not impossible, but it was VERY VERY hard, trying to imagine L in this situation. But I think I actually like this chapter. I thought I would hate it when it was done._

_I have all the major events of UnFB planned out. I know how the climax will end, at least. It should be good. It certainly sounds good in my head._

_And chapter 11 has already been started so you won't have to wait too long for it _

_-Nir_

_I own neither Bleach nor Death Note._

**Ch 10. Welcome**

3:19 pm, Rukon District

Voices murmured in the background.

"Who is he? Did he just get here?"

"Mama, is he dead?"

"What's he wearing? Don't tell me he's…"

"No, he can't be. Nobody starts out as one."

"So why…?"

The dirt against L's cheek was warm. The shifting light made red and black patterns on the inside of his eyelids. He opened his eyes and found he was in a grove of thick-trunked trees with wide, spreading branches. Sunlight streamed through their leaves. There was a small crowd of people standing around him, all looking different degrees of shocked.

Blood. Broken glass. Rage fed by a vicious, starving hunger. Those were the last things he remembered.

He hadn't been able to control himself, and so had impaled himself on the Death God Ichigo Kurosaki's zanpaktou during his last moment of sane thought. So that must mean this place was…

"Soul Society…" L said to himself. What had he expected to see when he'd arrived here? It was a lovely bunch of trees, but it didn't bear any resemblance to Heaven as L had pictured it. The people standing around him, his fellow souls, looked so wary of him. It was unnerving.

He stood up. A few of the spectators took a step back. They looked ready to run at any moment. This did not seem right. It did not seem natural. Soul Society was the equivalent of 'Heaven,' and as Ichigo had said, 'eternal peace and all that crap.' The current residents should not have any fear of new arrivals if they were good enough to get here in the first place. So why were they all so nervous?

L tried to think of the most non-threatening way to introduce himself. He hadn't had a lot of experience with situations like this. In his profession he had always hidden behind a computer screen and voice scrambler. This entire incident with Kira and the Death Note had forced him to break many of the guidelines he had set for himself as a detective. He supposed it didn't matter now. He wasn't a detective anymore. He was dead.

Dead… what did that word even mean? 'Dead' signified that you were gone forever, never to come back. Never to do what you used to do. Never to see those you knew and loved again. Beyond saving or even being thought about. But this didn't feel like death. It didn't feel like peaceful, eternal rest. It felt exactly like life.

Others in Soul Society might have felt cheated, had they been having the same thoughts as L. But L felt oddly optimistic. Maybe his talents could be put to use here. But first he had to let these people know he meant them no harm.

"My name is L." He said. "I… just got here." He held out his hands, showing he was unarmed.

"Mommy, he's not gonna try to hurt us like that other man, is he?" Asked a little boy who was clinging to his mother's skirts. She shushed him, her eyes distrustfully locked on L.

"Please," L said. "I don't mean any of you harm-"

"Oh yeah?" Someone behind L called out. "Then did the Death God give up his uniform willingly? Huh?"

Uniform? What was he…? L hadn't noticed the slight weight around his shoulders until now. He reached over to his side and felt something hanging there. He grabbed it and held it in front of him. It was a sleeve, black fabric with a white trim around the cuff. Part of a Shinigami uniform.

"So?" The angry voice demanded. It belonged to a young man standing in the circle of onlookers. He was holding a plank of wood, gripping it like he intended to use it as a weapon. "Did you kill him? Cut him up and bury him in the woods? Huh?!"

The little boy started crying.

"Calm down, man…" Someone said to the board-wielding firebrand. "We don't know if he's one of _them…_"

"I don't know why I'm wearing this." L told them. "Really, I mean no harm. Could you please tell me where-"

"He is one!" The man with the plank yelled. "One that the Gates didn't accept! He has no right to be here!" The entire crowd was murmuring amongst itself. The sound was ominous. Mob mentality was taking over. Another situation in which L had had very little experience. He began to back away from the angriest-looking part of the mob. This place seemed to be a small forest. It would not be hard to loose anybody who tried to pursue him.

Several of the onlookers, including the man with the plank, broke away and began to move toward L. As they got closer, L recognized one of them. He was one of Kira's victims. As L remembered, he had been relatively unknown burglar whose name had been announced on the news one day, and the next he had dropped dead. He was a criminal, but he was in Soul Society where all the supposed 'good' souls went. Why?

After a few seconds of careful analysis, L did something he had never done before. He turned around and ran.

Of course he had physically run before, but he had never fled from a situation where he might have a chance to come out as the victor. But victory wasn't important right now. At the moment, L knew he had to contact whatever authorities presided over this area. Was it the Shinigami he was looking for? Some other law enforcement? L didn't know, but he did not want to increase these people's fear of him by using force.

Maybe it was the disorientation of an entirely new place and an entirely new situation, coupled with a rare hint of fear and confusion, but L had failed to notice the mob had circled completely around him. The first few steps he took in his failed dash to safety brought him face first into the murderous arms of the thugs standing behind him. One of them seized him around the shoulders. L retaliated by kneeing his captor in the stomach. Unfortunately, said captor did not let go and L was pulled down with him as he fell to his knees. L tried to pull away, but the man's grip was tight. A frantic glace over his shoulder told L that the angry mob was circling right behind him, too close to escape from. He tried to tug his arms from the man's grip once again, but to no avail.

Something hit him hard across the back of his head, then again across his back. L kneeled on the dusty ground, his vision swimming. It was not supposed to be like this… this was supposed to be a peaceful place… A warm rivulet of blood oozed down his cheek. What has gone wrong… the balance… the balance is upset… that's why…

The blood-splattered ground between his bare feet was all he saw as darkness enveloped him.

------------------------

"This is out of control. There are just too many of them."

"Well, what do you want? It's not like we can just go around slaughtering people that seem suspicious."

"There's rape, theft, assault… all of it's going unchecked. And the Death Gods think we should be grateful that they lent us a little security. Bah, they barely do anything!"

"It'd be a lot worse if they weren't there."

"Yeah, yeah…"

"If you want to blame someone, blame whoever's down in the Living World, killing 'em all."

"God, if I knew who that was, I'd…"

It was just as it had been before. Lying in darkness, listening to quiet voices, so nearby and yet so far at the same time. L tried to remember again. The Balance… what was The Balance? Why had it been the last thing he had thought of before he'd blacked out?

L opened his eyes, just a crack. Three rectangles of light glowed softly on the opposite wall, which was made of some sort of sandy yellow-orange stone. He seemed to be in a small room. A cell. And the rectangles were the sunlight streaming in through a small, barred window above where he had previously been lying unconscious.

So he had been knocked out. That explained the throbbing headache. L gingerly touched the back of his head where he had been hit. It was roughly bandaged. He gave a small mental prayer for all the poor brain cells that had been killed on impact.

"Hey, hey! It lives! Glad to see you're not dead, kid." One of the men, whose conversation had woken L, was looking in through the wall of bars that separated the cell from the main part of the building. It seemed this place was a temporary prison of some sort. Which meant the people who worked here might have contact with the main authorities, possibly the Shinigami.

L struggled into a sitting position. His back and shoulders were bruised and tender. He rubbed his left arm. It hurt just to touch it.

"Yeah, you were pretty beat-up when we found you." The jailer explained. "Those guys… they're suspicious of any new arrivals."

"Suspicous…" L murmured, massaging his arm. "They intended to kill me."

"No, no, they've never killed anyone… I think." The jailer said. "It's just some of the tough guys feel the only way to protect their way of life is to totally eliminate anyone they don't like."

"They said the Gates didn't accept me." L said, remembering the angry man with the plank of wood. "What does that mean?"

"Oh, Gates. That'd be the Gates of Hell." The jailer explained. "They're supposed to show up when a real bad guy gets killed and drag him off to the fiery depths. But lately the Gates haven't been doing a real good job of that and a lot of bad guys are ending up here."

"Upsetting The Balance…" L drew his legs up in front of his chest, wincing at the pain in his back muscles. "The Gates are being selective because of the balance of souls in Soul Society and the Living World…"

"Exactly." The jailer took a ring of keys out from his pocket and flipping through them, his thick fingers moving deftly. "By the way, there's someone here to see you. He's been waiting since we brought you in."

Someone to see him? L tried to see past the man in the doorway into the room beyond. Could it possibly be Watari? He hadn't seen his old friend in so long…

The jailer unlocked the door and swung it open. "Go on, don't leave the man waiting." He told L. "He's the reason you're not being interrogated right now."

L stepped out of the cell, his eyes taking a second to adjust to the bright sunlight that fell in large squares across the floor. This was the man the jailer had been talking to. L wondered how he hadn't recognized his voice.

"Hello, Hollow-san!" Urahara greeted L. "Though you don't look much like a Hollow anymore."

"But… you… how did you know I would be here?" Asked L, perplexed.

"Sorry, no time for questions now." Urahara said. "I've got to show you something. And please keep it down. I'm a bit _exiled _from this place. Now come with me, L-san. We've got to unlock those Death God powers of yours."


	11. Hairpins and Needles

_I badly need to do concept art for this story. There are lots of sketches lying around but I haven't done anything with them! Maybe that'll be my project for the long weekend ahead. _

_Did I ever mention how much it helps me when people speculate in their reviews? Reading such reviews give me ideas for future chapters. I couldn't have gotten this far without them._

_Notice how L and Raito's situations parallel each other a little, both in this chapter and some earlier ones. I've never done such a complicated story before. It's pretty fun :D_

_This chapter was heavily inspired by the song "Hey Italy" by Halifax. _

_I own neither Bleach nor Death Note._

**Ch 11. Hairpins and Needles**

Las Noches, 12:20 am

The inverted moon shone brightly in the black sky over Hueco Mundo. Should I be happy? Raito thought idly as he stared at it from out of one of Las Noche's narrow windows. Maybe he should be grateful that was here. It was better than Hell, he imagined. During the bleary, painful time L had been laying waste to his soul, Raito felt that was surely where he was going. Between that time and a few days ago, he remembered nothing. His memories from his time as Kira were blurry too. Like a puzzle, but some of the pieces were not fully carved and wouldn't fit until he completed them. But how?

The incompleteness was not only mental. There was something about his hybridization that felt slipshod, like it had been done without much care. An uncomfortable feeling of inferiority that Raito had never felt before. It was more than a little disconcerting.

In just a few hours Raito would be going back to the living world to capture a few mid-power Hollows. It was likely they would just be used for security around the fortress. Why were they giving him simple gruntwork like this? Hadn't Aizen wanted him for his reputation as the infamous Kira? Raito wasn't accustomed to following orders like this. As Kira he had been in control. This was all so different so suddenly. He had been unwillingly indentured into an army whose motive he wasn't sure of. Or had he just forgotten it? Was it really that important?

Raito considered himself adaptable, but this was going to take some getting used to. Perhaps he could rise through the ranks of this militaristic group and gain some of that control back.

Or maybe he could find a quicker way.

----------------------------

Aoyama, 2:21 pm

The early afternoon sky was chocked with clouds and dark as the night. It was raining heavily, but the only evidence of it could be seen as the raindrops rushed past car headlights in bright airborne streaks, and in the monotonous roar it made as it pounded the ground. The rain was otherwise invisible.

"Damn! This sucks!" One of Raito's teammates, a fairly recently hybridized Arrancar with a fanged chunk of mask stuck to his nose and upper lip, cursed and kicked the air where he and his fellow Arrancar stood suspended. Rain fell on all four sides. "How the hell are we gonna find any Hollows in this rain?"

"Sense their reiatsu, moron." His teammate, an Arrancar with a hornlike spike of bone covering his ear, responded. "If they didn't have any spirit force, Aizen-sama wouldn't want them, duh."

This is an insult to my talents and intellect, Raito thought. I should be doing much more meaningful things than this. "I think I see something over there." He announced. "I'm going to go take a look."

"Whatever, man." The horned Arrancar said dismissively.

Raito dropped to the ground. There was a truck station at the side of the road. The large, covered areas used for washing the trailers were empty and lit with a flat yellow light. He positioned himself beneath the overhang of the rightmost one and massaged his forehead under the large section of mask that still remained attached to his head. There was still so much he hadn't been told. He still had so many questions about this so-called afterlife, and about the snatches of conversation he heard in the hallways of Las Noches. Hints of an invasion. Talk of Death Gods and swords, and portals and collecting souls. Fear of the Arrancar leader, Aizen. They all followed this man loyally, so Raito assumed he had some power to threaten them with. Not to mention a Death Note, though that couldn't be used for killing Hollows. Ryuk had told him this. His former… what was Ryuk? Not a friend, not really an ally. Just an observer and an occasional guide. At least some things hadn't changed. The Shinigami apparently found Hueco Mundo very boring, so the only thing he could do was observe it. Aizen had no use for him any longer.

Thunder rumbled in the distance, far enough that the lightning's flash was not visible in the clouds overhead. A car sped by, its wheels spewing water. Raito watched its red taillights recede. It seemed to be going awfully fast, despite the rain.

"Hey! It's getting away!" Raito recognized that voice. It belonged to his teammate, the petulant fanged Arrancar.

"Idiot!" That was the Arrancar with the horn. "We're not supposed to kill it; we're supposed to capture it!" The fanged Arrancar's answering protest was drowned out by the enraged scream of an injured Hollow. Raito stepped out from beneath the station's overhand and peered in the direction of the voices.

The two novice Arrancar were facing off against a large, dark shape that moved and shifted like a living thundercloud. The Hollow's outline was indistinct in the blur of rain and the dim light, but by the slow and bulky was it moved, it was clearly injured. With an angry howl it swung its tail at its opponents. It seemed to have missed until the fanged Arrancar swore loudly and fell to his knees in midair, clutching a long spine that had embedded itself in his arm.

"Hey! Get over here!" The horned Arrancar called to Raito. "Help us get this thing under control!"

With a disdainful sigh, Raito pulled his zanpaktou from its sheath and flash-stepped over to where his teammates stood, stopping right behind the Hollow's massive, shadowy bulk. Sensing the sudden presence of another reiatsu, the Hollow turned. Its profile was highlighted sparsely by the truck stop's neon sign. The light outlined a blanket of long, thin spines that ran from its neck to the end of its thick tail. Their tips glistened with some sort of oily liquid, most likely poison. Its eyes pulsed red in the dark sockets of its reptilian mask. They widened when they saw him.

"R…raito…" The Hollow murmured. From the high, light pitch of its voice, it was female.

"It's distracted!" Fang dove at the Hollow with his sword, but the monster turned more swiftly than seemed possible, and clubbed him with one of her heavy paws, knocking him to the ground. He started to struggle to his feet, but Raito pointed his zanpaktou at Fang's chest.

"I'll take care of this one." Raito told him. "You," he looked at Spike, the Arrancar with the horn. "Help him."

Both Arrancar stared at their teammate. "Go!" Raito commanded.

"Y-yes sir…" Spike stammered, pulling Fang to his feet and flash-stepping out of sight. Once they were gone, Raito faced the Hollow. She was crouched on the ground, one clawed paw held over a wound on her chest. "Raito… is it really you?" She asked. "They told me you died in an accident…"

"How do you know my name, Hollow?" Raito asked the creature.

"Oh… you don't remember me?" The Hollow sounded tearful. "It's Misa!"

"Misa?" Raito lowered his sword. The last time he had heard from her was that phone conversation on the day of the 'accident.' To tell the truth, he hadn't really thought about her much since his own death. "You're a Hollow. How did you…?"

"Suicide." The Hollow said quietly "I didn't think I could live without you. But once I was dead, I was still here! It was worse than being alive! These monsters came and attacked me, and turned me into one of them… But it's okay now, because I can see you again." She looked at Raito, her head between her paws. "I missed you."

"I know how you feel." Raito said, slipping his zanpaktou back into its sheath. "Something similar happened to me. He knelt in front of Misa and placed a hand on her bony snout. She growled softly, the spines on her back rattling as she breathed.

"My death was no accident, Misa." He told her. "I was murdered."

"By who?" She asked in a breathless whisper.

"By L." He answered.

"But L's dead!" Misa whimpered. "Rem killed him!"

"What does 'dead' even mean anymore, Misa?" Raito sighed. "I thought I knew, but I guess I was wrong."

"Ohhh! I'm so sorry!" Misa surprised Raito by throwing her paws around his shoulders in an awkward hug. Her weight threatened to crush him into the ground. "It's all my fault you're dead! I forgot to change the dates, and…" She sobbed. "I'm sorry!"

"Misa! Misa, you're hurting me!" Raito gasped, trying to lever Misa's giant claws off his shoulders.

"Ah! I'm sorry! It's just so hard to get used to this form…" Misa folded her paws underneath her body, her eyes shamefully watching the ground. "I'm so useless… everything's my fault…"

"No. It's not your fault." Raito told her. She looked up at him, her red eyes doleful. "You didn't kill me. L did. He came back as a Hollow, like you. And he killed me. If he hadn't interfered with Kira's work in the first place, none of this would have happened. So if you want to blame anybody, blame him."

Misa nodded sadly. "I guess… but I still feel bad." They stood in the rainy silence for a few moments before Misa spoke again. "If it's any different to you… I still have the eyes."

"You mean…" This was it. This was the way he could gain back all he had lost.

"Yes." Misa said. "I saw your name before I saw your face, and that's what surprised me before."

A plan was already beginning to form in Raito's mind. If he somehow managed to get the Death Note away from Aizen and his comrades, he could threaten to write their names in it. Misa would tell him what he needed to know, and Raito could dangle the knowledge of the Death Gods' true names over their heads like the blade of a guillotine. He could have power again. Just like before.

"I think you'll be able to redeem yourself, Misa." Raito told the Hollow. "Come back with me," he held his arms out to her. "And we can work together for a perfect world, just like before."

"Y-you really mean it? You're not mad at me at all?" Misa's glowing eyes shone with hope.

"Not at all. I still need you." Raito told her. He took her head in his arms and stroked her bony snout. The Hollow purred, her eyes half closed and content. "I promise." She said quietly. "I'll do anything you want. Anything…"

"Then please," Raito pulled a capture orb from his pocket. "Hold still for just a moment. This won't hurt if you don't struggle."

------------------------

Las Noches, 4:01 am

The hybridization chamber was already prepared, and as Misa was dragged in covered from head to tail in constricting bandages, Raito wondered where Ryuk was. The Shinigami was usually present at these little ceremonies, but the only other spectators were a few new Arrancar who'd never seen a hybridization, and Aizen himself with the Hogyoku. In the middle of the floor was a sunken pit, in which the bandaged shape of Misa's Hollow could be seen, lying still and silent.

As it began, the cavernous room was lit with a neon green glow. All was quiet for a few minutes. Then a grinding and shifting cacophony rose from the pit. It sounded like an earthquake, but what it really was was the sound of bones shifting and flesh stretching as the creature in the bandages changed from a monstrous shape to something more human. It was eerie, as no movement at all seemed to occur in the Hollow being transformed. A loud CRACK split the air, and the noises ended, leaving the room as silent as it had started.

With a soft rustling sound the grey bandage casing began to crack and break away as the cocoon collapsed inward. As the last of its fell away, it revealed a girl crouched, naked, her arms around her knees. She stood up slowly, her red eyes wide beneath her feathery dark blue bangs. She backed up, her bare feet crunching quietly in the discarded casing. The girl looked left and right, trying to make sense of where she was. Finally her eyes found Aizen, standing over the pit with the spent Hogyoku in hand.

"Welcome to Las Noches, my dear." He said to her.

The girl said nothing, only whimpered, her arms locked around her chest. Then she screamed.

-----------------------------

Down another featureless white corridor, in another featureless white room, Orihime Inoue's eyes fluttered open. A second pair, these ones horribly blank and staring, greeted her. She gasped and tried to back away, but only succeeded in falling off the oversized couch she had been sleeping on. The blank-eyed creature chuckled as she picked herself up off the floor.

"Were you watching me sleep?" She demanded. The creature only laughed. "What's so funny?"

"You fell off. It was funny." The creature answered. "And I was bored."

"You're that other Death God that works for Aizen-sama, aren't you?" Orihime asked as she hoisted herself back onto the couch. "Your name is… Ryuk?"

"Yeah. But it's more like I'm his slave." Ryuk said. "You don't seem to be in a much better position."

"I guess I'm not…" The girl sighed and hugged her legs to her chest.

"You know… this place is really dull." Ryuk said. "But I have the feeling things are going to change a little around here."

"Really?" Orihime grey eyes met Ryuk's red ones. "Why's that?"

Ryuk cackled. "You'll see. When something gets too boring, people who aren't content with boredom will do whatever they can to make it interesting."


	12. Masked Prodigy

_It seems to me that Evanescence excites my muse. Note to self: Listen to more Evanescence._

_I like this chapter, despite its shortness._

_-Nir_

_I own neither Bleach nor Death Note_

**Ch 12. Masked Prodigy**

Rukon District, 10: 11 pm

Not a soul so much as turned their head as the dark figure ran, light-footed, over the rooftops of Rukon. It was searching for injustice, this mysterious being, for it meant to right it in the only way it could. The moon was nothing more than a sliver, providing just the perfect balance darkness and light.

With a quiet _swish _of its robes the figure stopped and crouched on the edge of a roof's peak, overlooking the darkened street. Wide-limbed trees lined the dusty pathway. The shifting shadows of their leaves made phantom silhouettes on the ground. Not too many yards behind, the would-be attacker kept to the shadows himself, though he was plainly visible to the robed being on the roof. In fact, he had been followed here. Tonight he would be shown the error of his ways, like many others would be. But they would be saved for another night.

The assailant clutched a dagger, held under his shirt so the sparse light from the moon would not glint off it. Clever. The dark, robed figure tilted its head, studying its target. The assailant's hands did not shake. He had done this before. After tonight, he would never do it again.

The figure watched as the man with the dagger approached the paper door of a small house, only one away from the roof from which he was watched from so vigilantly. The assailant drew the blade and slashed through the thin material. A shrill scream was heard from inside the house. A woman. It would be rape, possibly murder. The robed figure bowed its head, sorry that it had to subject the house's occupant to such fear. But that would be all. The figure gave the fastening strips of its mask a quick, tightening tug, and slid to the ground, its bare feet silent upon landing.

Shrieks still emanated from within the torn doorway. The assailant had dropped his knife now and was shaking the young woman inside by her shoulders, yelling at her to shut up, while simultaneously trying to undo her shirt ties. She scratched him. He yelled in pain and frustration, and raised his hand to slap her. But he found he couldn't bring his arm down again. It was stuck, like he had caught it on something. The man grunted, trying to pull his wayward limb back down. It started to twist backwards against his will, bending into an awkward painful position behind his back. The assailant cursed and tried to untwist, but he couldn't fight the supernatural force that was drawing his body into what felt like a yoga position from Hell.

"Binding spell, level 2…"

The assailant strained his already painfully positioned neck to catch a glimpse of a tall, lanky figure in Death God robes standing in the tattered doorway. The figure lowered its hand, its kidou spell complete, and turned its masked face to the unsuccessful criminal. Two pairs of dark eyeholes held his gaze. The slight breeze rippled the torn paper and the ends of the headscarf's ties. A zanpaktou was mounted on the figure's back, but it made no move to unsheathe it.

"Don't worry, ma'am." The masked figure said, taking notice of the woman quavering against the wall of the small room, her robe half-undone. "I'm only here for him…" It turned its blank, eyeless stare to the bound criminal.

"This is the last time you will attack an innocent." It said. "I was brought here by the same means as you, but that does not mean I will follow the same path. If you choose to continue your acts of violence, I will do more than just bind your limbs. When the spell wears off, leave this house, and leave your life of violence as well." In a swirl of black fabric it turned and strode off into the night before disappearing with a flash-step.

-----------------------------

"Out defending the innocent, eh, L-san?" Urahara grinned at L over the rim of his teacup. "Shouldn't you be asleep? It's nearly midnight."

"You're not sleeping either." L said as he untied the scarf's straps and pulled the eerie mask from his face. "What right do you have to lecture me?"

"I _am _your teacher." Replied Urahara.

"Right…" L leaned against the cave's entryway, the breeze making his robes ripple around him. He still wore the black jacket part of the uniform around his shoulders, as he had when he had first arrived in Soul Society. Urahara had gotten him some proper Shinigami attire so he wouldn't stand out too boldly, though L rarely went out during the day. The up-and-coming Death God spent his days indoors, honing his Kidou and sword-fighting skills with Urahara. L's reiatsu control was amazing, so he picked up Kidou almost as quickly as he was shown it. His zanpaktou skills, however, were not as adept. Along with the uniform, Urahara had also procured an Asauchi, a zanpaktou with no name, used by trainee Death Gods in the academy. It wasn't so much that L's reflexes or physical condition were inadequate, it was that he could not get his sword to respond to his call. He spent several hours a day meditating with the Asauchi, trying to channel his own zanpaktou's spirit through the nameless blade, but he hadn't had any success. He hadn't heard a whisper or felt a single bubble of emotion.

As L sat with his mentor on the cliff's edge, he wondered what the nature of his zanpaktou would be like. Urahara had told him Soul Cutters usually had personalities that reflected their wielders. The concept of a sentient weapon was not so strange to L, after all he had seen and heard up until this time.

The rooftops of Seireitei could be seen on the dark horizon, along with the pointed steeple that was the Shrine of Penitence. Stars sparkled overhead as they never could in the city. It was incredibly peaceful in spite of the looming threat of the Arrancar. L let the breeze stir the steam that rose from his teacup.

"Urahara-sensei…" L said, though his gaze remained on the sky. "Why do you think my situation is like this? Why do you think…" He hesitated, trying to find the right words. "In my life, I was regarded as a genius. Here, it seems to be the same, although my natural talent is in supernatural combat. It seems all too coincidental."

"Are you familiar with the term 'prodigy?'" Urahara asked.

"Yes." L replied, having known what the word meant since he was five and old enough to know he was not like the other children.

"Every century or so there are a few among us who are naturally above and beyond normal." Urahara said. "They are reincarnated many times, doing great things in each life, and in each afterlife. One of our captains is such…"

"You really think that is what I am?" L asked his mentor.

"I do. But I also believe you possess the initiative to improve yourself beyond normal standards." Urahara said. "Which makes you something of a double-prodigy."

"Double-prodigy…" L repeated. "I'm not sure I would go that far. I cannot even get my zanpaktou to respond."

"Don't worry about that. It will tell you its name when you are ready." Urahara said. "Or when it is ready for you."

L nodded, his eyes on his cup. The liquid had gone cold. There were stars reflected in it.


	13. White

I apologize for being so slow with updates. Currently, the only chapter that's really been thought out completely is one of the last, where… nah, you'll have to wait to see

Yes, I named Misa's zanpakuto 'Star' I'M SO DANG ORIGINAL.

Gin's bad grammar makes SpellCheck cry D:

_-Nir_

_Death Note © Tsugumi Ohba_

_Bleach © Tite Kubo_

**Ch 13. White**

Las Noches, 1:14 am

In a dark, secluded corner of Las Noches, the three traitors had gathered to discuss the two former Kiras who had joined their ranks. They were seated around a circular table. On the table was a scale model of the Seireitei; similar to something that might be used to plan a military assault. A single overhead light cast eerie shadows over the faces of the small room's occupants.

"Y'all ever notice…" Gin drawled, examining a tiny model of the Shrine of Penitence as he held it in his long fingers. "That li'l girl who hangs out with Yagami… she kept followin' us around for the firs' few days, and now she's nowhere ta be found…"

"I think we should be more concerned with the boy." Said Tosen. The visor that hid his milky eyes gleamed in the solitary light. "Though he was only a child when he first received the Death Note, he was able to systematically evade capture for several years."

"The boy is clever, certainly." Aizen spoke up. "No matter what the situation he was able to twist it to his advantage. We have no reason to assume he will not try something similar now. He will have to be watched closely."

"And you know this, how?" Gin asked, the innocent tone of his voice contradicted by the sly expression on his face.

"That Death God, Ryuk, is quite talkative." Aizen explained. "It seemed almost proud to have been part of such a colossal upheaval of the humans' society."

"Excitable li'l things, humans…" Gin said. "If yer so worried 'bout that Yagami kid, why not jus' lock 'im up somewhere?"

"That is a possibility…" Aizen said thoughtfully.

"But you'd rather break his spirit first." Tosen said as Gin amused himself by stacking the division headquarters on top of each other.

"You make it sound so cruel…" Aizen replied, not sounding hurt in the least. "But yes. The boy's success has gone to his head. He still believes his exploits carry weight here. I do value him as a possible advisor, but until he has proven his loyalty he cannot be trusted."

"What about the girl?" Tosen asked.

"I believe she will be of use to us. I took a closer look at the rules written in that notebook, and it seems she has not told us all that she can do."

"Ain't no shortage of talented women 'round here, that's fer sure."

-------------------

Raito sighed in exasperation as he stared out the narrow window to the silvery sands of Hueco Mundo. Misa watched him with concern, resting her chin in her hands. The room they were in was small and circular. It stuck out from the walls of Las Noches like a gazebo, though its long windows were more like the gaps between bars of a prison cell. There was nothing in the room except a small love seat, which Misa was currently sitting in.

"Raito… you asked me to come up here, and you haven't said a thing." She whined. "What is it?"

Raito turned his head very slightly to look at the girl from the corner of his eye.

"I was thinking about something. Aizen doesn't trust me. Did you know that?"

Misa tilted her head to one side, looking like a puzzled puppy. "I dunno…"

"He knows what I did in the human world, and that's why he brought me here in the first place. But he doesn't trust me… he doesn't need to trust me, though, for what I have in mind."

"You're gonna get the Death Note from him, right?" Misa asked.

"You know how much trouble we would be in if someone heard that, right?" Raito snapped, still looking at Misa out of the corner of his vision. "Be quiet for now. I've already checked and there's nobody within earshot. I had Ryuk examine this room before, and there are no listening devices of any kind in it."

Misa nodded and looked down at the floor. Poor Raito… he must be very frustrated to have to restart his reign as Kira completely. She had yet to hear his plan, but she knew he had something in mind. He was like that.

Raito's talents were in manipulation, scheming, thinking and planning. There was no doubt Aizen knew this already, and expected it from him. If he tried something along those lines he would likely be caught. He had to do something unexpected.

"Misa… do you know what your release does?" Raito asked, referring to the short, dagger-like sword that Misa wore at her waist. The girl looked down at her zanpakuto in its white leather sheath.

"You mean Estrella? Um… yeah…" She took it out and held it. The guard was shaped like a four-pointed star with elegantly curled ends. "It lets me shoot spikes. Aizen-sama had one of the other Arrancar show me how to use it after I got turned…"

Raito tapped the hilt of his own zanpakuto. "Shoots spikes? Hmm…" Ideas were forming already. "Can you show me?"

-------------------

Outside Las Noches, 1:34 am

The small Hollow sentry started to scream as it fell to the white sand below, a two-foot spike protruding from its chest. A second spike through its beaked mouth silenced it. It dropped, bouncing once off the stark white walls, leaving a dark bloody smear that dissipated in a few seconds.

Misa lowered her arm and nodded to Raito, who was standing on the ledge of a window 100 yards away and 20 yards up. The shifting marble sand she stood on had made it difficult to shoot accurately, but she had done a good job, she thought. A path, made from her spines, rambled along the wall to another set of windows that she knew led into Aizen's quarters.

They had both been careful, making sure to check that there was nobody around to witness what Raito was about to do. It was almost eerily convenient that an Espada meeting had been called not 20 minutes before, so all the most powerful denizens of Las Noches were at the other end of the fortress. This might be their only opportunity in a while, so they had to take it.

Misa watched, tense as Raito stepped out onto the fragile-looking row of spines embedded in the white stone. If he fell, she would try to make another platform for him to land on, but there was always the fear that she would hit him instead of the wall. The wind stirred the white sand around her feet. A gust blew into her face. She rubbed her eye, being careful not to stab herself with the spiny gauntlets that surrounded her wrists and forearms.

Balanced precariously on the row of spines, Raito hugged the wall. The bony spikes shifted as he stepped on them, but none had fallen yet. Another small flying Hollow landed on the fortress's roof above his head. It looked at him curiously before it was impaled through its forehead and fell backwards, another victim of the zanpakuto Estrella's release.

The breeze was stronger near the walls, where it slid along the building's sleek shape and built itself into a stiff wind that threatened to push Raito over. The wall started to curve as he inched along. He felt terribly exposed with his back to the vast desert, even though his uniform was the same bland white color as everything else. Beneath his feet, the spines crackled as he stepped on them, shifting in the crumbling stone. It felt as if any minute one would break and he would fall to his death in the silvery sands.

If he died in this world, what would that mean? That was one thing he hadn't thought about. L had killed him and eaten his soul, transforming what was left of him into a Hollow, and that Hollow had been turned into an Arrancar. He hadn't actually gone to eternal rest or eternal damnation, if those things existed at all. The entire concept of death was much more complicated than he had originally thought.

It was a welcome relief when the bridge of spines ended and Raito was able to step inside the window to Aizen's room. It looked exactly like Raito's own room, though it was a little larger. There was a neatly-made bed against the wall, along with an end table and a lamp. On the other wall were two doors that suggested a closet of some sort. Everything was white, except for the small black notebook that sat so boldly on the end table.

Raito couldn't help but grin in triumph as he picked up the notebook. The few remaining gaps in his memories filled themselves in as he held it. He finally had his means of power back. He could be Kira again. This entire ordeal of him being killed and indentured was just a minor delay in his original plan.

"Your empire is mine, Aizen…" He smirked, flipping through the pages. These deaths were from a few months ago… a few weeks… and then they abruptly ended. Raito frowned and flipped back. Where were the criminals that had died during the week before his death? There were none at all… Raito brushed past the blank pages, thinking Misa might have skipped a few, but the handwriting on these was different from Misa's neat characters. These must be the dates that-

"Found everything you were looking for?"

Raito turned abruptly. Aizen stood behind him, his zanpakuto in his hands. He did not look angry. On the contrary he looked pleasantly surprised, even amused.

"Aizen…" Raito gripped the Death Note tightly, but didn't react otherwise. Inwardly, thought he hated to admit it, he was close to terrified. This one man kept an entire army of incredibly powerful beings under control. The punishment for treason of this level… how bad would it be? What about Misa? Had she been seen too? If she had escaped, maybe he would still have a chance…

"Thought you would go another direction to get your power back, didn't you?" Aizen slipped Kyouka Suigetsu back into the sheathe at his waist. "I admire that sort of cunning and determination. However, there is no place for traitors in my army. Detain him." The last two words were spoken to a pair of Arrancar who were standing outside the doorway; ugly creatures that looked more like dinosaurs that had been squeezed into uniforms. One tore the Death Note from Raito's hands, while the other seized his arms to prevent him from reaching his zanpakuto.

"Amane Misa has already been taken to a holding cell to await judgment for her betrayal. You will be joining her soon." Stepping aside, Aizen allowed the creature holding Raito to escort him out the door. The boy did not struggle, only gave Aizen the strangest look. It was a look of deep hatred and confusion.

Aizen took the Note as the other guard handed it over and skimmed the pages, though he knew the boy hadn't gotten the chance to write anything. The Shinigami had watched the entire event under the cloak of Kyouka Suigetsu's illusionary powers. It was impossible to believe Raito would not have tried to get the notebook back. Aizen was even a little disappointed that it had been so easy to catch him in the act, though he had to give him credit. The boy's attempt had been creative.

Aizen snapped the notebook shut and slipped it inside his robes before following the other guard down the hall to the holding cells deep beneath the fortress, where Raito and Misa would learn what sort of punishment their actions had earned them.


End file.
